Like this is a surprise...
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| helios Aug 13, 2010 11:58 AM EDT |
The warning bells rang when Oracle purchased Sun. Sun Microsystems held the lynch pins for many Linux applications. A conversation with a colleague yesterday revealed a conversation between my colleague and an Oracle sales rep. Said sales rep stated that Oracle had scrapped their Open Office installs and had moved almost completely to MS Office. Said rep also made the statement that Oracle was strongly considering work stoppage on all Open Office development. When my colleague pressed him for details, he called someone at Oracle and was only told that "Open Office now belonged 100 percent to the Community." Does that mean that Oracle will stop paying their Open Office developers to work on Open Office? It would seem so. The fact that Solaris is the OS Oracle is building should remind us that any support Oracle provides the Linux Community will wane from here on in... Despite a recent headline that "Oracle Loves Linux", Oracle is appearing to become more and more of a roadblock to Linux development. If it can be used to make their stockholders happy, then we're in good shape, otherwise, don't look to Oracle for any altruistic behavior on the FOSS front. Binding Google up with a patent lawsuit because their Linux-based OS is using Java is just the first shot from Oracle. Given Ellison's previous behavior, we should expect much more in the near future. Specifically those distros that include the Java code/apps out of the box |
| tuxchick Aug 13, 2010 12:07 PM EDT |
I wrote that "Oracle Loves Linux" headline. It was meant to be sarcastic. http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reports/7148/1/ Maybe the sarcasm should have been a little more obvious, but I thought that an Oracle employee giving unsolicited advice to the Linux kernel dev team was obvious enough :) Nice to see that all those dire predictions about the evil that would follow Oracle's acquisition of Sun seem to be accurate. |
| helios Aug 13, 2010 12:15 PM EDT |
@ TC...yeah, I knew that...unfortunately most who just peruse the headlines or skim articles will not. Most who just see the headline will be embarrassed when they link to it as "proof" and readers publicly behead them for doing so. That still happens at an amusing rate. I stood quiet on this initially to just watch and see. Early pundit predictions were right though...Oracle will gut what they can in trying to circumvent/over-rule the gpl. |
| azerthoth Aug 13, 2010 6:49 PM EDT |
Reading over at groklaw, PJ brings up something I was pondering. Java isnt tied to a specific machine (or even architecture) and thusly fails the machine/transformation test. Not that I am happy to see the bucket loads of money this is going to take either way, but this might force the second half of Bilski that SCOTUS should have ruled on when they had the chance. Not that I trust Google much further than I do any corp rats, but fight Google fight. |
| gus3 Aug 13, 2010 7:38 PM EDT |
Looking at their abilities to wage litigious war against each other, they're just about on even footing. Oracle market cap: US$133B Google market cap: US$155B If they do end up destroying each other, my only regret will be the resulting unemployed. |
| tuxchick Aug 13, 2010 8:12 PM EDT |
Help me, for I am in pain from laughing at the punchline near the end of the article:Quoting: Google could settle current damages with Oracle, and switch to the better designed, more pleasant to use, and more open .NET platform. |
| Steven_Rosenber Aug 13, 2010 8:24 PM EDT |
We all have dreams ... |
| gus3 Aug 13, 2010 9:48 PM EDT |
One programmer's dream... |
| tracyanne Aug 14, 2010 12:20 AM EDT |
or an Elephants Dream http://www.elephantsdream.org/ |
| Bob_Robertson Aug 14, 2010 2:09 AM EDT |
> my only regret will be the resulting unemployed. Ha! Resources freed up to discover more efficient uses. |
| jdixon Aug 14, 2010 12:15 PM EDT |
> Looking at their abilities to wage litigious war against each other, they're just about on even footing.
> Oracle market cap: US$133B
> Google market cap: US$155B Market cap doesn't matter when it comes to litigation. Cash flow is what matters. You have to have enough money on hand to pay the court costs and lawyers. Both companies have more than enough free cash flow to do that as long as they want. I'm hoping Google decides to make an example out of Oracle and show the rest of the litigation prone corporate community the real costs of going to war with patents. Worst case they lose and still have to license the patents or re-develop their software without Java (which they're probably looking at doing either way). |
| gus3 Aug 14, 2010 12:25 PM EDT |
Quoting:Market cap doesn't matter when it comes to litigation. Cash flow is what matters.But, as the SCO fiasco points out, currying ill will with customers and potential customers can do a lot of damage to cash flow. Once the switch is made from production to litigation as the primary corporate activity, the cash flow comes from lawsuits won or settled. Without the market cap to jump-start the lawyers (or prop up flagging cases)... well, SCO shows what happens then, too. |
| tuxchick Aug 14, 2010 12:54 PM EDT |
There are some differences, gus3. SCO was struggling financially, and it was a sock puppet. Larry Ellison is considerably more formidable than Darl McBride, which is like saying a Rottweiler is more formidable than a Papillon, and Oracle has way deeper pockets. SCO was lint in pockets. Andy Updegrove reported that Oracle spent 6.5 billion buying Sun. That was an expensive mistake; they paid way too much, and now they're resorting to predatory means to make it pay. Sun's strength has always been their people, and several key personnel have already left. I don't see smart, skilled engineers who can get jobs anywhere sticking around to put up with a bunch of Oracle BS. So yeah, I agree, I just amuse at mentioning SCO in the same thread as a real company. |
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